Soltannia with Jesse LaPaire, President of Atlantic Chapter of the CMVA
Mechanical engineering doctoral candidate, Babak Soltannia, received the student award for presentation and article at the recent 37th annual Canadian Machinery Vibration Association (CVMA) meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The award recognized Soltannia's presentation, "Vibration Characteristics of Thermally Cycled Graphene Nanoplatelet (GNP) Reinforced 3D Fibre Metal Laminates (3D-FML)" in the category of practical applications and solutions.
"I'm very honoured and humbled to have received the student award for presentation and article, during 37th CMVA conference, in Halifax, NS," says Soltannia, who was elected to the CVMA Board of Directors on October 30.
The paper, which Soltannia co-authored with Dr. Pierre Mertiny and Dr. Farid Taheri of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Dalhousie University, considers the vibration characteristic of 3D fiber metal laminate, a novel hybrid material system, under harsh environmental conditions, such as those found in Northern Alberta.
For Soltannia the conference was not only an opportunity to present his own work but to meet with and learn from colleagues in the field.
"It was a brilliant opportunity and a great privilege for me to attend the conference and meet with amazing people, and learn a lot from them."
In his role as a member of the CVMA Board of Directors, Soltannia hopes to bridge the divide between academic researchers and industry members, as well as to encourage women's participation in the field and the association.
Soltannia received a small bursary with the award but the recognition was more than enough for him.
"I really don't know how to express my feelings of gratitude towards the organizers of such a successful and intriguing conference."
Soltannia is supervised by Dr. Pierre Mertiny but is currently working on his thesis remotely with the support of Dr. Farid Taheri at Dalhousie University.